U.S. patent number 6,751,554 [Application Number 10/383,040] was granted by the patent office on 2004-06-15 for locating dig alerts on the map by choosing an area on the map.
This patent grant is currently assigned to AT&T Corp.. Invention is credited to Michael L. Asher, Uday Bhaskar, Hossein Eslambolchi, Bala Surya Siva Sri Gaddamanugu, Charles C. Giddens, Harold Jeffrey Stewart.
United States Patent |
6,751,554 |
Asher , et al. |
June 15, 2004 |
Locating dig alerts on the map by choosing an area on the map
Abstract
The present invention is a system and method for searching a
large database of dig location tickets for tickets of particular
interest. A user can locate an area of concern on an on-screen map
and can view a list of tickets received for a given date range of
the map. For example, when underground plant damage occurs in a
particular region, users need not text-search in the database to
locate a particular ticket that may have caused the damage, but can
instead locate the ticket using the enhanced on-screen map of the
invention.
Inventors: |
Asher; Michael L. (Green Grove
Springs, FL), Bhaskar; Uday (Alpharetta, FL),
Eslambolchi; Hossein (Los Altos Hills, CA), Gaddamanugu;
Bala Surya Siva Sri (Alpharetta, GA), Giddens; Charles
C. (Conyers, GA), Stewart; Harold Jeffrey (Alpharetta,
GA) |
Assignee: |
AT&T Corp. (New York,
NY)
|
Family
ID: |
32393225 |
Appl.
No.: |
10/383,040 |
Filed: |
March 6, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
702/5;
707/E17.138; 702/6 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F
16/90328 (20190101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06F
19/00 (20060101); G06F 019/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;702/2,5,6 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: McElheny, Jr.; Donald
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for identifying a specific dig location ticket in a
database of dig location tickets containing geographic coordinates
of dig locations and date information, the method comprising the
steps of: receiving from a user a date range selection and an
identification of a geographic region; retrieving from the database
a set of dig location tickets containing a date falling within the
date range and geographic coordinates falling within the region;
presenting to the user a map showing the identified region and
indicators representing geographic coordinates of the retrieved
tickets; and receiving from the user a selection of the specific
dig location ticket.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of presenting
on the map a representation of an underground plant buffer
zone.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving an
identification of a region comprises presenting to the user a map
and receiving from the user at least two points on the map
representing the region.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving an
identification of a region comprises presenting to the user an
overview map, receiving from the user at least one point on the map
representing an area containing the region, and zooming the map to
that area.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicators representing
geographic coordinates of the retrieved tickets are representations
of pushpins.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicators representing
geographic coordinates of the retrieved tickets have a
characteristic representing non-coordinate data in the
corresponding ticket.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the characteristic is a color of
the indicator.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein the non-coordinate data is a
level of involvement with an underground plant.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of presenting
to the user data contained in the specific dig location ticket.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of
presenting to the user a tabular list of tickets having
geographical coordinates within the region.
11. A machine readable medium containing configuration instructions
for performing a method for identifying a specific dig location
ticket in a database of dig location tickets containing geographic
coordinates of dig locations and date information, the method
comprising the steps of: receiving from a user a date range
selection and an identification of a geographic region; retrieving
from the database a set of dig location tickets containing a date
falling within the date range and geographic coordinates falling
within the region; presenting to the user a map showing the
identified region and indicators representing geographic
coordinates of the retrieved tickets; and receiving from the user a
selection of the specific dig location ticket.
12. The machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein the method
further comprises the step of presenting on the map a
representation of an underground plant buffer zone.
13. The machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein the step of
receiving an identification of a region comprises presenting to the
user a map and receiving from the user at least two points on the
map representing the region.
14. The machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein the step of
receiving an identification of a region comprises presenting to the
user an overview map, receiving from the user at least one point on
the map representing an area containing the region, and zooming the
map to that area.
15. The machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein the indicators
representing geographic coordinates of the retrieved tickets are
representations of pushpins.
16. The machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein the indicators
representing geographic coordinates of the retrieved tickets have a
characteristic representing non-coordinate data in corresponding
tickets.
17. The machine readable medium of claim 16, wherein the
characteristic is a color of the indicator.
18. The machine readable medium of claim 16, wherein the
non-coordinate data is a level of involvement with an underground
plant.
19. The machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein the method
further comprises the step of presenting to the user data contained
in the specific dig location ticket.
20. The machine readable medium of claim 11, wherein the method
further comprises the step of presenting to the user a tabular list
of tickets having geographical coordinates within the region.
21. A system for identifying a specific dig location ticket in a
database of dig location tickets containing geographic coordinates
of dig locations and date information, the system comprising a
processor and memory containing instructions for performing a
method comprising the steps of: receiving from a user a date range
selection and an identification of a geographic region; retrieving
from the database a set of dig location tickets containing a date
falling within the date range and geographic coordinates falling
within the region; presenting to the user a map showing the
identified region and indicators representing geographic
coordinates of the retrieved tickets; and receiving from the user a
selection of the specific dig location ticket.
22. The system of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises
the step of presenting on the map a representation of an
underground plant buffer zone.
23. The system of claim 21, wherein the step of receiving an
identification of a region comprises presenting to the user a map
and receiving from the user at least two points on the map
representing the region.
24. The system of claim 21, wherein the step of receiving an
identification of a region comprises presenting to the user an
overview map, receiving from the user at least one point on the map
representing an area containing the region, and zooming the map to
that area.
25. The system of claim 21, wherein the indicators representing
geographic coordinates of the retrieved tickets are representations
of pushpins.
26. The system of claim 21, wherein the indicators representing
geographic coordinates of the retrieved tickets have a
characteristic representing non-coordinate data in corresponding
tickets.
27. The system of claim 26, wherein the characteristic is a color
of the indicator.
28. The system of claim 26, wherein the non-coordinate data is a
level of involvement with an underground plant.
29. The method of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises
the step of presenting to the user data contained in the specific
dig location ticket.
30. The method of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises
the step of presenting to the user a tabular list of tickets having
geographical coordinates within the region.
31. A method for identifying a specific dig location ticket in a
database of dig location tickets containing geographic coordinates
of dig locations and date information, the method comprising the
steps of: receiving from a user a date range selection and an
identification of a geographic region; retrieving from the database
a set of dig location tickets containing a date falling within the
date range and geographic coordinates falling within the region;
presenting to the user an electronic map showing the identified
region and electronic indicators representing geographic
coordinates of the retrieved tickets; the indicators having a
characteristic showing whether represented tickets are involved by
an underground utility plant buffer zone; receiving from the user a
selection of the specific dig location ticket; and presenting to
the user details of the selected dig location ticket including a
ticket receipt date, a proposed dig date, an excavation company
name, and a proposed dig location in words.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to the tracking of dig
location tickets for the protection of underground utilities. Dig
location tickets are created as a result of an excavator contacting
an underground utility maintenance organization before conducting
an excavation that may potentially harm the underground plant. More
particularly, the present invention is a method of finding a
specific dig location ticket in a large database of such tickets,
using geographic data in a unique user interface.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Communications and utility companies ("carriers") often own or
maintain vast underground plants, including communications cables,
power service cables, water pipes, gas pipes, sewers and other
utilities. The carriers responsible for those underground plants
actively encourage anyone digging in the ground to first notify the
companies of the planned excavation. Organizations, often called
"One-Call" centers, have been created to centrally receive such
calls and to notify all potentially involved carriers of the
planned dig. A carrier representative is often sent to the dig site
in order to "stake out" the actual location of the underground
plant, so excavators may avoid it.
As the notifications are received, "dig location tickets" are
created for tracking the status of each notification as it is
handled by a carrier company. The "ticket" is typically a record in
a database containing information such as an identification of the
caller, a date the notification was received, a planned excavation
date and a location of the excavation. Because the initial
notification may come from a variety of sources (for example, road
or building construction companies, utilities, landscapers, farmers
and individuals planning to dig in the yard), information about the
location of the dig may be received in a variety of forms. For
example, the information may be a simple description of the dig
being "near" a landmark such as a building, it may be an address,
or the information may be in the form of precise coordinates of the
dig. When a dig location ticket is created, whatever location
information is received is converted to map coordinates that best
represent the described dig site, given the data received from the
caller. The converted coordinates may, for example, be
latitude/longitude or UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator)
coordinates.
The locations of components of the buried plant are known to the
responsible utility companies. For example, a company responsible
for a fiber optic cable system maintains a database of buffer zones
surrounding buried cables in the system. When a location of a
proposed excavation falls within a buffer zone, it is carefully
reviewed and any necessary actions are taken to avoid harming the
underground plant.
While the present invention may be used in connection with
protecting any type of underground plant, it will be described
herein in connection with the protection of an underground cable
system such as a fiber optic system. A large corporation such as
AT&T will may receive 15,000 to 20,000 dig location tickets on
an average day from 50 different One-Call Centers throughout the
United States. Some of those tickets are closed automatically by
the system if the dig location is not within a cable buffer zone.
In other cases, technicians receive the appropriate dig location
tickets for which they are responsible, and work on those tickets
to protect the cables. For example, the technician may be present
during the excavation, or may mark the area to show where the
underground cable is buried.
Sometimes, however, a cable cut happens for various reasons. In one
example, an excavator may have failed to inform the One-Call Center
about the planned excavation. In that case, the cable company does
not receive notification and would not have created a dig location
ticket. In another example, a technician may not have been able to
be present at the dig location because there was insufficient
notice of the dig alert, or because the excavator dug earlier than
the date contained in the dig location ticket. In yet another
example, the excavator may have dug in a location other than that
described in the dig location ticket.
In any event, if damage to an underground plant such as a cable cut
occurs, operators in the utility's network maintenance center must
find the dig location ticket, if any, that was issued for the
particular excavation that caused the damage. The ticket is
necessary to quickly identify the excavator and to determine when
the ticket was received by the system, what the dig location
coordinates were, etc. That is necessary in order to prevent
further damage by the excavator, to quickly detect problems in the
One-Call system, and, if necessary, to seek compensation from the
excavator. It is presently very difficult to search the system for
the appropriate ticket, inasmuch as the database contains several
millions of tickets. To compound the problem, it is often the case
that the network maintenance center operator knows very few details
about the ticket.
In addition to damage to the underground plant, other circumstances
may necessitate searching a dig location database by network
maintenance center operators. For example, a center may have a need
to locate active tickets in a certain area for purposes of
allocating technician workloads.
There is therefore presently a need to enable network maintenance
operators to quickly and efficiently identify a dig location ticket
in a database of millions of such tickets, given the types of
information typically available to the operators. To the inventors'
knowledge, there is currently no system capable of such
searches.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention addresses the needs described above by
providing a method for identifying a specific dig location ticket
in a large database. The database includes dig location tickets
containing geographic coordinates of dig locations and date
information. The method comprises the steps of receiving from a
user a date range selection and an identification of a geographic
region, retrieving from the database a set of dig location tickets
containing a date falling within the date range and geographic
coordinates falling within the region, presenting to the user a map
showing the identified region and indicators representing
geographic coordinates of the retrieved tickets, and receiving from
the user a selection of the specific dig location ticket.
The method may also include the step of presenting on the map a
representation of an underground plant buffer zone. The step of
receiving an identification of a region may include presenting to
the user a map and receiving from the user at least two points on
the map representing the region.
The step of receiving an identification of a region may include
presenting to the user an overview map, receiving from the user at
least one point on the map representing an area containing the
region, and zooming the map to that area.
The indicators representing geographic coordinates of the retrieved
tickets may be representations of pushpins. The indicators may have
a characteristic representing non-coordinate data in corresponding
tickets. That characteristic may be a color of the indicator. That
non-coordinate data may be a level of involvement with an
underground plant.
The method may further comprise the step of presenting to the user
data contained in the specific dig location ticket. The method may
also include the step of presenting to the user a tabular list of
tickets having geographical coordinates within the region.
In another embodiment of the invention, a machine readable medium
is provided containing configuration instructions for performing
the above-described method for identifying a specific dig location
ticket in a database of dig location tickets.
In yet another embodiment, a system is provided for identifying a
specific dig location ticket in a database of dig location tickets
containing geographic coordinates of dig locations and date
information. The system includes a processor and memory containing
instructions for performing the method described above.
Another embodiment of the invention is a method for identifying a
specific record in a database of records. The records in the
database contain geographic coordinates. The method comprising the
steps of receiving from a user a coordinate range defining a
geographic region, retrieving from the database a plurality of
records, each record of the plurality of records containing
geographic coordinates falling within the region, presenting to the
user a map showing the defined region and showing indicators
representing geographic coordinates of the retrieved records, and
receiving from the user a selection of the specific record.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing one method according to the
invention.
FIG. 2 is an illustration of a computer screen for entering dates
in a user interface embodying the invention.
FIG. 3 is an illustration of a computer screen for selecting a
geographic area in a user interface embodying the invention.
FIG. 4 is an illustration of a computer screen showing a geographic
area in a user interface embodying the invention.
FIG. 5 is an illustration of a computer screen for selecting a
coordinate region in a user interface embodying the invention.
FIG. 6 is an illustration of a computer screen showing a coordinate
region with ticket indicators in a user interface embodying the
invention.
FIG. 7 is an illustration of a ticket detail computer screen in a
user interface embodying the invention.
FIG. 8 is an illustration of a ticket log computer screen in a user
interface embodying the invention.
FIG. 9 is an illustration of a ticket list computer screen in a
user interface embodying the invention.
FIG. 10 is an illustration of a computer screen showing a zoomed
map in a user interface embodying the invention.
FIG. 11 is an illustration of a computer screen showing help
instructions in a user interface embodying the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a system and method for locating a
particular dig location ticket in a large database. The ticket is
located in a matter of few seconds to few minutes, using
information typically available to an operator in the situations
described above. The system presents to the user an easily learned
user interface. The method will be described with reference to FIG.
1, which shows a block diagram depicting the method 100, and also
with reference to the other figures, which show screen shots of a
user interface used by an illustrative program embodying the
invention.
After a user starts the system, the system initially presents (step
110) to the user a date selection menu. The date selection menu
201, shown in FIG. 2, includes fields for a beginning ("from") date
210 and an ending ("to") date 220 of the period of interest to the
user. The system may present pop-down calendars 230 to assist the
user in entering the dates. The system then receives (step 115,
FIG. 1) the date range input by the user. The date range may refer
to dates that tickets originated, or may alternatively refer to
projected dig dates. In one example, a user interested in finding a
ticket related to a particular cable cut may enter a range
containing projected dig dates within one day of the cable cut
date.
The system next presents (step 120) to the user an overview map
showing all possible dig locations for a given underground system.
For example, in a nationwide underground fiber cable system, the
overview map 300 (FIG. 3) shows a complete representation of the
continental United States. An overview map for a worldwide system
may show a world map; an overview map for a local cable company
system may show a smaller area such as a state or group of
counties. By identifying an area of interest on the map with a
cursor 310 and clicking, a user can zoom to that area for further
definition. A representation of the selected area, such as area 410
shown in FIG. 4, is then rendered on the user's screen. The zoomed
representation of the area may include additional details to assist
the user in using the map, such as major roads, cities, major trunk
lines owned by the carrier, etc.
Using the area map 410, the user may now identify (step 125) a
region on the map by drawing a rectangle 510 (FIG. 5) on the map or
by identifying corner vertices such as vertices 520, 521. A tool
550 in a tool bar is provided for that purpose. The region 510
defines a subset of the dig location tickets in the database having
geographic coordinates falling within the region. The system
retrieves (step 130) those tickets belonging to the geographically
defined subset and having a date within the date range defined by
the user.
The identified region 605 (FIG. 6) is then displayed (step 135) to
the user with correspondingly greater map detail. For example,
smaller municipalities, local roads and natural features might be
shown on the region map. In addition, the retrieved dig location
tickets matching the geographic and date conditions defined by the
user appear on the map as representative icons or indicators such
as pushpins 610. Other icons, such as flags, geometric elements or
graphical representations of digging equipment may also be used to
represent locations of dig tickets on the region map. One or more
characteristics of the icons may be varied to represent additional
data of interest to the user; i.e., data other than the dig
coordinates represented by the location of the icon on the map. For
example, the icons may be color-coded pushpins with red colored
pushpins indicating tickets involved by the system and sent to the
technicians; i.e., tickets located within an underground plant
buffer zone. In that example, green colored pushpins may indicate
the tickets not involved by the system; i.e., the tickets are not
located within any buffer zone. A user is thereby able to view all
relevant dig location tickets within the identified region, and is
able to select those tickets that are most likely to be involved
in, for example, a cable cut. Other non-coordinate data may also be
represented by characteristics of the icons. For example, icons may
be color-coded to show ticket age, size of excavation,
restorability of the cable system at that point, etc. Furthermore,
other icon characteristics may be used to convey information about
the tickets, such as the size, type or orientation of the icon.
A user may identify (step 140) a ticket of interest on the region
map by, for example, double clicking on a corresponding icon 610.
In response to that action, a tabular HTML report 710 (FIG. 7)
becomes available under a "ticket details" tab 720. The report 710
contains all ticket details available for that dig location ticket,
including, for example, the ticket receipt date 731, the proposed
dig date 732, the excavation company name 733, address 734, and
telephone number 735, the type of work to be done 736, the primary
contractor 737, and the proposed dig location in words 738 and in
coordinates 739. For that ticket, a ticket log 810 (FIG. 8) is also
available under a "ticket log" tab 820. The log 810 shows a history
of the ticket by listing entries entered as significant events take
place. Finally, under a "ticket list" tab 920, a list 910 of all
tickets found in the identified region and falling within the
entered time period is displayed. The list 910 contains a
tabulation of important ticket data such as date of work 950,
excavator name 951, ticket reference numbers 953, 954, the dig
location address 955 and work type 956.
A map location of a dig location ticket may be further examined by
double clicking on a ticket in the list 910 or by double clicking
on a ticket icon in the region map 605. A map 1010 (FIG. 10) will
be shown in the display, zoomed to the appropriate area to show the
selected ticket icon 1015. At that detail level, the zoomed map
highlights cable buffer zones such as zone 1020 by displaying a
shaded zone on the map. In that way, a dig location can be
evaluated relative to nearby cable locations. In the case where a
cable cut is being investigated, dig location tickets that may be
involved in the cut may be quickly identified by the user.
To assist the user in finding a particular dig location ticket with
the system and method of the invention, usage instructions 1120 are
available under a help tab 1110. The usage instructions provide a
step-by-step procedure to be followed by a user in a situation such
as a cable cut event, to identify dig location tickets that may be
involved.
The foregoing Detailed Description is to be understood as being in
every respect illustrative and exemplary, but not restrictive, and
the scope of the invention disclosed herein is not to be determined
from the Detailed Description, but rather from the claims as
interpreted according to the full breadth permitted by the patent
laws. For example, while the system and method for locating dig
alerts is described with reference to an underground cable plant,
that technique may be used with other underground utility types
and, more generally, with other geographically-based systems, while
remaining within the scope of the invention. It is to be understood
that the embodiments shown and described herein are only
illustrative of the principles of the present invention and that
various modifications may be implemented by those skilled in the
art without departing from the scope and spirit of the
invention.
* * * * *